Posted Apr. 12, 2013, 9:12 am

Parimal M. Rohit / Staff Writer

One of Santa Monica’s most valuable assets is the
approximately three miles of beach that make up the City’s western edge. A pair
of Santa Monica locals and long-time beach lovers hope fellow residents will
join them this Saturday to help keep at least one small portion of the beach as
clean as possible.

Samohi alumnus and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tim
Leary joins forces with Sara Bayles, founder of The Daily Ocean, to host the
beach cleanup day. They are requesting fellow Santa Monicans join them this
Saturday morning, between 9 am and noon, to help remove some trash from the
sand.

The duo will be at a portion of the beach just south of
the Santa Monica Pier to collect a few undesirable objects resting atop the
sand.

Specifically, they will be set up at the end of Pico
Boulevard, where the storm drain meets the beach. A table will be set up on the
boardwalk between Shutters and Casa Del Mar, just beyond where Pico ends. The
cleanup will take place between lifeguard towers 18 and 20.

Parking is available at lots adjacent to Bay Street and
Appian Way. Meter parking, for up to five hours, is also available in the
surrounding blocks.

Bayles and Leary are hoping Santa Monicans and other
beachgoers can commit as little as 20 minutes to help keep the beach clean.
Anyone who is interested in helping out only needs to bring a pair of gloves
and a recyclable bag.

There is no minimum amount of trash to pickup. Leary told
The Mirror every little bit helps,
even if it is just a handful of litter.

Basically, anything that is unnatural to the beach is
fair game to be collected as trash, including but not limited to cigarette
butts, lids from plastic bottles, discarded wrappings of food items - anything
human made that is resting in the sand instead of a trash can.

Whatever one can pick up within 20 minutes would make a
big difference in keeping the beach clean, Bayles and Leary said.

The beach cleanup is a collaboration between the Samohi
Alumni Association and Bayles’ The Daily Ocean.

“There are a lot of people who are into being green,”
Leary, who won a World Series ring with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988, told The Mirror two weeks ago. “Five people
are better than zero. This is open to everybody.”

After collecting noticeable trash from the sand, they
will be able to weigh what they have collected.

The amount weighed will be added to the cumulative total
of trash collected since Bayles started her efforts in March 2009.

As previously reported in The Mirror, Bayles has collected more than 1,300 pounds of trash on
a small stretch of Santa Monica Beach since 2009. She has visited the beach 365
times during that stretch.

Her efforts as part of The Daily Ocean is a beach cleanup
“experiment,” where Bayles hopes to inspire others to take ownership of local
beaches and keep them as clean as possible.

Locals and beach enthusiasts can join Bayles and Leary at
Santa Monica Beach anytime between 9 am and noon on April 13.